The Boy and the Wild Blue Girl

by Keith Negley, Keith Negley (Illustrator)

Overview

Inspired by the work of wind pioneer Poul la Cour, The Boy and the Wild Blue Girl is the imagined story of the invention of wind turbines, featuring themes perfect for Earth Day.

Everyone thought the wild blue girl was a nuisance.

Everyone, that is, but Poul.

This is a clever and inspiring story of how curiosity and observation can bring about change in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062846808
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Keith Negley is the author and illustrator of A Lot Like Batman, The Boy and the Wild Blue Girl, Mary Wears What She Wants, My Dad Used to Be So Cool, and Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too). He has received multiple medals from the Society of Illustrators as well as recognition from American Illustration. His artwork has been featured in many publications, and he is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and the New Yorker. Keith lives in Bellingham, Washington. 

Keith Negley is the author and illustrator of A Lot Like Batman, The Boy and the Wild Blue Girl, Mary Wears What She Wants, My Dad Used to Be So Cool, and Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too). He has received multiple medals from the Society of Illustrators as well as recognition from American Illustration. His artwork has been featured in many publications, and he is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and the New Yorker. Keith lives in Bellingham, Washington. 

Editorial Reviews

03/02/2020

Negley (Mary Wears What She Wants) animates his exploration of early wind power with breezy energy, drawing the wind as an exuberant blue girl in dungarees whose perpetual motion blows hats off, scatters leaves and flowers, and tangles kite strings: “Everyone thought the wild blue girl was a nuisance.” Crisp, confident colored pencil and collage artwork shows townspeople with their hair awry and their clothing askew as the girl tears through with a friendly smile on her face. A boy named Poul sees her worth, understanding the possibilities that her power offers: “We just need to show them.” She stands right next to him as he studies the problem in various ways, then erects a great tower above the town’s buildings. Once the propellers are up, the wild blue girl takes to the air, and the townspeople stare open mouthed with amazement as the blades begin spinning. Negley has a gift for distilling action into kinetic lines and figures; though readers won’t come away with an understanding of how wind turbines work, this maker story conveys the excitement of discovery and the simplicity of Poul’s innovative idea. An afterword gives further details about Poul la Cour, a 19th-century Danish inventor. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

2019-12-18
Who's gusting around town and cheerfully blowing things hither and yon?

Poul's "curious about the wild blue girl." Poul, a redheaded white boy, stands holding a pinwheel while another kid disappears off the page nearby—someone with streaming blue hair and blue pants with blue suspenders. In fact, everything about her is blue, including her big blue grin and the blue rosiness of her cheeks (her skin is the white of the background paper). She's the same size as Poul, but her strength and influence aren't: Everywhere she goes, hats and flowers blow away, hair gusts sideways, and no pile of leaves is safe. The townspeople, a multiracial group, consider her "a nuisance," but Poul adores her and sets out researching her powers, "study[ing] and measure[ing], test[ing] and buil[ding]." He erects a windmill—for she is, of course, the wind. Negley's watercolor pencils and cut-paper collage (of solid paper, patterned paper, and newsprint) create a breezy, buoyant setting with ample air and an exuberant feeling even during the (mild) chaos. The text never identifies the wild blue girl as the wind, but readers will get it. However, what they won't understand, unless they already know about windmills, is the turbine Poul builds. The art shows turbines, but neither art nor text explains a thing about them (until the author's note introduces 19th-century Danish scientist/inventor Poul la Cour).

This celebration of renewable power is all about the manic pixie wind girl. (historical photograph) (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews